Is Niche Marketing a Way to Reach Underserved Populations—and Promote Your Services?

It’s no secret that there are inequities in delivery of healthcare in the United States. Those who reside in rural areas and people of color, in particular, are underserved when it comes to medical care. This has been further proven by the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 on various populations. Blue Cross Blue Shield thinks one solution may be establishing urgent care and other healthcare facilities within communities where there are high densities of a particular demographic group—in this case, Hispanic Americans. According to a report from KTRK TV news in Houston, BCBS has opened up 10 Sanitas Medical Centers in the Houston and Dallas markets, at least in part to address the fact that Hispanics make up the second-lowest percentage of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the nation. And it doesn’t stop there; according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hispanics are 50% more likely to die from diabetes or liver disease than Caucasians. Owing to the fact that 31% of Houston’s Latinx community is uninsured, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the Sanitas facilities expect to appeal to Medicare and Medicaid members by offering primary care, lab and diagnostic imaging services, and disease management programs, among other services, in a single location. Every staff member is bilingual. JUCM actually published an article related to this. To get a better understanding of how working to ensure the healthcare needs of Latinx populations in the U.S. also benefits the urgent care operator, read Clinica Mi Pueblo—Shedding Light on Urgent Care Solutions for America’s Uninsured Latino Population in our archive right now.